Other ACORN stories

POLITICO 44

Any successful efforts by Congress to cut off federal funding to scandal-plagued ACORN would have little effect on the community organizing group’s overall operations, its chief executive officer said on Tuesday.

“We didn’t have government funding for years,” said ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis. “We may not have government funding in the future.”

Lewis said ACORN typically receives about $2.5 million to $3 million annually from the federal government – roughly 10 percent of its $20 million to $25 million annual budget. Member dues and private sources make up a much larger chunk of the budget, she said.

After a series of undercover videos surfaced showing ACORN employees giving advice to conservative activists posing as a prostitute and a pimp, opponents in Congress have sought to cut the group’s sources of federal money. In recent weeks, both the U.S. Census Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service have also ended partnerships with ACORN.

But Lewis, who spoke Tuesday at Washington’s National Press Club, called the congressional actions a case of “modern day ACORN McCarththyism,” and she dismissed a report by the Republican staff of the Senate Finance Committee alleging that ACORN used some charitable funding for political purposes.

Last month, the group suspended new intakes to its service programs throughout the country, pending the results of an independent review led by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger.

Lewis, who said her remarks were part of a “set-the-record-straight tour,” said the group would continue to pursue a lawsuit against the makers of the videos as well as the conservative Web site, Breitbart.com, where they first appeared.

“Just because we were embarrassed by these highly edited tapes,” Lewis said, “doesn’t mean that these people didn’t break the law in order to embarrass and attack the organization.”

Still, Lewis acknowledged that when she watched the clips, “it made my stomach turn over – it just made you sick.”

The Website’s founder, Andrew Breitbart, could not be reached for comment. But in appearance on Fox News last month he called the lawsuit “an attempt to stifle free speech and the First Amendment.”

Lewis also denied fresh allegations revealed in connection with an investigation of ACORN in Louisiana that Dale Rathke, brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke, embezzled as much as $5 million from the organization. The amount of missing money was just under $1 million, according to Lewis, who said the higher figure was “completely false and not based on any documentation or any audit other than two disgruntled former board members.”

On Tuesday, Lewis wistfully recalled her own years as community organizer and said that she planned to continue serving as CEO of ACORN for at least another year.

“I admit I’m not a graduate of the Wharton School of Business,” she said. “But you know something, I believed – and my board believed – that if you worked hard and if you got the proper people to do the job that we could make sure that ACORN was solid and stable going into the 21st century.”

In February of 2008 Fathiyyah Muhammad of Jacksonville, Florida, heard that ACORN was paying three dollars for each vote you could register. Fatiyyah claims she registered voters for Acorn there (at three dollars each), but that the group threw out her votes and fired her when she brought them GOP registrations.

This is another nail in the coffin of the community organizers and their stealth agenda.

Acorn

Fathiyyah Muhammad is a Republican who voted for Obama. She is an entrepreneur and a great American. She makes custom caps ............ here's a little bit of her story: Some cities give visiting dignitaries the keys to the city. Jacksonville's "unofficial" greeter V..Fathiyyah Muhammad of Bilal's Custom Caps and Only in America, gives custom-made, Clinton acorn silk-lined denim caps “The best heads on the planet wear Bilal's Custom Caps." said Fathiyyah. She and her husband, James, target famous people coming to Jacksonville and design an original cap for each one Her caps grace the heads of rich and famous. Musicians, sports figures, politicians and others sport her caps.

Fathiyyah got the idea to start her custom-cap business about ten years ago. She wanted to instill "a can do " attitude in her four children. They were bemoaning the fact that everything had already been done.

"America is the place you can live your dreams if you work at it," she said. Her custom-made cap business built on her seamstress and alteration skills.

She's a can do woman with a great American spirit, and when she saw what was breaking in the news about ACORN, she came forward. Here is our conversation, first here at Atlas. Her account is unedited:

Pamela: Have you worked with ACORN in the past, is this your first experience with them?

Fathiyyah Muhammad: This is my first experience. This actually, I believe about February or March, this was before Obama got the nomination, long before then. So I really was... I'm a Republican, and this was the first time that I voted for a Democrat since JFK.

I heard about this group that was paying $3.00 per person, to go out and to get people to sign up to vote. So I went over, I thought that well this is a good way to make some money because I know everybody, you know. I went over there and this guy signed me up and everything and gave me my little pad all this stuff. Well I went out and got a lot of people, homeless people, but of course I signed everybody up as a Republican, and I would have put people had they been Democrats. So I showed what I had and he said NO NO, you a fraud, there can't be any black Republicans, and Oh, he just kind of hung me out to dry.

He took my papers, didn't pay me anything and I just left, I just figured that this is just another scam. So when I heard, recently about this, all of the problems they were having.....

Pamela: ACORN has been doing this a long time. I mean look, it was already back in November of 2006 when they were indicted on some 40 000 illegal registrations, and that was before any...this organization, the racketeering of this organization goes back some time, it's not new, but the discovery..

Fathiyyah Muhammad: I know, I'm learning all about it, since this new revelation, really reading and checking up on it. I mean I can't believe that they got away with it for so long.

Pamela: Well nobody was checking up on them, and even now there is resistance to exposing it. But let me ask you a couple of questions. Now for the party affiliation, you, the person said Republican or you could put down anything you wanted?

Fathiyyah Muhammad: You could put down anything you wanted.

Pamela: Oh.

Fathiyyah Muhammad: But of course their main aim was to register only Democrats. They're not interested in registering Republicans.

Pamela: And you saw them throw out the Republican registrations you made?

Pamela: Now the people you registered, did you think that they were going to vote?

Fathiyyah Muhammad: Yes, they all were going to vote, right uh huh, I just didn't want to get anybody just to get the three dollars, I wasn't desperate for three dollars. But when I heard that they were paying for registering three dollars per person, I thought that hell, I can really make some money with this but...then I found out, I figured that it was just a scam because I didn't get anything.

Pamela: They didn't pay you?

Fathiyyah Muhammad: Not a penny, no they threw my, all of the registrations... they just threw those out.

Pamela: But they said they were going to pay you?

Fathiyyah Muhammad: Right, they said they were, and you know, and everyone else got paid, all the other people got paid but I didn't. And I didn't make a big deal about it, I just figured that another one of life's experiences.

Pamela: I understand but it's patently wrong.

Fathiyyah Muhammad: I know.

Pamela: I want to ask you another thing, with this story, if I pursue this story further, are you anonymous? Do you want attribution? How do you want me to proceed?

Fathiyyah Muhammad: No, no, I'm an open book.

Pamela: So you have no problem with being quoted?

Fathiyyah Muhammad: Oh no, no, of course not.

Pamela: OK. Well some people want to remain anonymous.

Fathiyyah Muhammad: How are you going to shine a light on the laundry if you don't want to come out and say what happened?

Pamela: Well I'm going to tell you a story. This was the ACORN office where exactly? Jacksonville, Florida.

Fathiyyah Muhammad: Jacksonville, Florida.

Pamela: In you opinion when you went to this organization, this wasn't one person doing this, or was it? Was it systemic...?

Fathiyyah Muhammad: No, no, he was a young guy, and actually he had about twenty people in the room, and he was telling us, you know, about his experience, he was from Brooklyn, he wasn't from this area. He was just here recruiting people to register people to vote. They had a big office here, and I would say maybe about ten or twelve people at there.

Fathiyyah Muhammad: I'm one of those rare birds, a black conservative Republican and actually this is the black conservative capital of the country, Jacksonville, Florida.

Pamela: Well, I have to tell ya, my hats off to you, because I have worked up here in New York with the Black Republican Association (Francis Rice). They had their first annual conference last year and I covered it, and it's difficult to go up against your family, it's difficult to go up against the community.

Breaking News last night on Big Government was that the infamous "EMBEZZLEMENT" OF $1 MILLION was a lie.

According to the Louisiana Attorney General, the amount embezzled was $5 MILLION DOLLARS!! This corrupt organization is history and I am wondering just when this president is going to throw these creeps under the BUS! AND WHY HASN'T HE DONE IT ALREADY?

Taking away 10% of the budget supplied by the federal government won't hurt ACORN? Interesting comment. For a CEO of any organization to make such an asinine remark shows that they do not know what their bottom line is, their source of revenue etc., Just for that comment alone, she should be fired. However, ACORN's sponsorship, irrespective of how aligned they may be to the Democrats and Obama, will probably stop providing them funds as they do not want to slimed by ACORN's ineptitude.

Than that solves the problem I won't care about your illegal activities as a citizen since you can and will give up your FED and State Dollars. But I would anticipate and expect the attorney generals in all 50 states to hold you to the letter of the law. Your organization is a sham,a disgrace and does harm to the very people you claim to help. Yes Mickey Mouse's vote didn't count but you absolutely stuffed the ballot with false votes and applications. A criminal organization like yours is a disgrace to this President and his affiliations with your criminal empire is un thinkable. The POTUS should cut all and any ties as to not harm the office. Bertha you should resign and have someone put in place to clean this terribly ran organizations. We are watching and willnot stop until it is fixed or dismanteled.

Instead of an apology to the taxpayers we are told in a round-about way, "We don't NEED YOUR money!" That's appreciation and gratitude for you! Even Bernie Madoff made a halfhearted attempt to apologize to those he bilked.

I certainly hope that they never get another a dime of the taxpaying public's hard earned money! First the government robs us by holding our hand to the fire, then the crooked organizations like ACORN knife us in the back.

Maybe I should look for some creative ways to cheat on my income tax. Everybody else is cheating the government....

You know what ACORN, Congress should'nt be able to hurt you because YOU ARE A POLITICAL ACTIVIST ORGANIZATION. Now in the same breath they should have NEVER sent you one cent of taxpayers money. So please pay all of it back now and continue on as you have stated before the Democrats in Congress became your sugar daddy.

Unfortunately our own ACORN President still wants to use them to destroy this country. He knows exactly what their subversive tactics were, after all he was the one who helped train them! What we have here is an un American President who is actually helping to destroy the middle class for his Marxist friends. This will only get worse with Obama in office. Normally you could say; "you can take that to the bank" but then you realize he is controlling the banks too. hmmmmmm

Hey Democrats way to put in a traitor into office, good job. It seems that is what you've been wanting all along. So when you stand in the unemployment line I won't feel sorry for you.

i am also sure they can contimue their illegal operations while their leaders are jailed.

the blind sheik as we all know was able to orchestrate terror ops from prison.

acorn can as well.

none of that is reason to not fund acorn. to incarcerate and to cut of any operations concerning elected politics from acorn. acorn is a proven criminal operation. shun them. jail them. remove their public money. ban them form mortgage and electoral involvement. surely they will just be fine with that. no problem.

The depths of ACORN's problems are just starting to surface. I wonder how long it will be before the IRS starts reviewing their tax exempt status. The recently released legal memo gives an indication of some of ACORN's shortcomings.